


warrior's blade

by whitemiists



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Final Haikyu Quest, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3431615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitemiists/pseuds/whitemiists
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An engagement, a kidnapping, a quest, a team of mismatched heroes, and a love square that's much more complicated than it should be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oikawa: The News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for [steph](http://tanaka--saeko.tumblr.com/), who is awesome sauce <3
> 
> a haikyuu quest au! iwaoi and daiyui are the major pairings, but there's very light kuroken and kagehina, too. i just didn't want to tag them because they're not predominant pairings, so i'm warning you now.

Oikawa never understood as a child why he had always been told to hide his horns. He needed to securely wrap his head in cloth, hiding them from view, before he was ever allowed to leave the castle.

"But,  _why?"_ he would always ask, sniffling as a servant wrapped his horns. It  _hurt_ and it was stuffy and he'd never liked it, but the one time he had decided to sneak out without, he'd gotten a lashing and he didn't want a repeat of that.

"You're different," those around him always replied, their faces pinched with annoyance that he  _always_ kicked up a fuss. "Humans will never understand. They'll take one look and go running for the hills, then they'll come to our door with flames and pitchforks."

Oikawa didn't think his friends from the village would ever do such a thing. They were nice boys who had seen him wandering through the market place alone one day and kindly invited him to join their game of volley, and they did so every time he ventured out into town. They were a team with an unbreakable bond, and they would understand him no matter what.

That's why, when they often asked, "Why do you always wear a bandana on your head? It's so hot!" he wanted to rip it off and show them the truth, to finally reveal who he was. But the thought of that lashing kept him from breaking the rules, so he only shrugged and talked his way out of it, luring them back to the game so they would lose interest and he wouldn't have to lie.

But in the end he should have listened, should have known that those in the castle knew best because of experience, because the inevitable day arrived when he lunged for the ball and his cloth caught in one of the tree branches, ripping off his head in a swift motion and putting his horns on display for the boys to see. They gasped.

Oikawa put his hand to his head, feeling the exposed horns, and grinned at them sheepishly.  _Now you know what I am,_ he wanted to say, and then maybe they could laugh it off and he could show them all his cool tricks with his magic.

But one of the boys – the very first one to have ever invited him to join their game – pointed with a shaky finger and wide, horrified eyes, and choked out, "M-Monster!"

Oikawa blinked rapidly. He wasn't a monster. At least, he didn't  _think_ he was. He was just like any other boy; he liked the slushies one of the vendors from the market sold on hot summer days, and he liked the feel of the ball as it slammed into his arms, and he loved running until his legs ached and his breath came out in sharp pants. Just like any of them.

He took a step forward, the words "I'm not a monster" halfway out of his mouth, when they all collectively took a step back.

"He's coming this way!" one of them panicked, scrambling to hide behind the nearest tree and almost tripping over his own feet to do so.

"He'll tear our hearts out!" another shrieked, and that seemed to do the trick. The boys wailed in unison and scattered, almost skidding down the hill as they bolted from the scene, leaving their ball abandoned by Oikawa's feet. Farther and farther they ran, towards the village and the safety of their parents.

"Wait!" Oikawa called after them, distraught, but he had enough sense not to give chase. "Come back! I'm... not a monster..."

But they were already gone.

.

Oikawa didn't dare tell those in the palace what had happened. He was scared of the lashing, scared of what else they might do, scared that the whole family and all the servants would have to pack up and leave in the middle of the night. And he was scared that after this, they would never let him leave the castle walls again.

Carefully wrapping his bandana back around his head, heart racing, he ran home. He could have teleported as he always did, but the feeling of blood pumping through his legs, matching the pain in his heart, made him feel more human than ever.

"Are you not going out to play with the other boys today, sir?" one of the servants asked him next morning, when he didn't request that a maid tie his horns for him. There was a hopeful glint in the worker's voice, like he hoped Oikawa had come to his senses and no longer wanted to play with the humans, but Oikawa knew that a sudden change would only be suspicious and bring about questions, so he nodded and requested the bandana as always.

None of the boys had shown up to play volley today. He peered out into their usual clearing, hidden safely behind a tree, but saw no one. And he'd suspected as much, but still it made his bottom lip tremble and his eyes involuntarily fill with tears. No one was coming, no one  _would_ come, and he was better off never returning, too.

Dejected, abandoned, he turned to go, but suddenly he heard leaves rustling nearby and whipped his head back around.

"Huh? Where  _is_ everybody?"

Oikawa recognized the boy who scratched his hair in confusion, looking about the empty clearing. Iwaizumi, he remembered his name. He hadn't been at the clearing yesterday, trapped in some family obligation, but now there was a ball neatly tucked under his arm as he looked about at the abandoned spot, bewildered.

"They could have  _told_ me if we weren't meeting today," he grumbled to himself, kicking at the ground. "It was my turn to bring the ball and everything. Bastards."

Oikawa ducked his head and tried to silently retreat. It wouldn't be long before  _this_ boy learned his secret and ran as well, and he no longer wanted to bother with the human boys from the village after they had called him a monster and ran from him. He couldn't risk it happening again.

But he took a single step back and a twig snapped under his foot, and Iwaizumi swirled his head around and caught him peeking out from behind the tree, guilty and probably looking more than just a little suspicious.

"Oikawa," he called, light relief on his face that at least  _someone_ was here. Clutching his ball, he jogged over so they could talk without the cover of trees, but the closer he came, the farther Oikawa stepped back, and he frowned. "What's wrong? Why do you keep doing that?"

"Just...  _stay away,"_ he snapped, his voice shrill from the panic making his heart strum in his ears. He was wary of all the branches around him, just waiting to rip his cloth from his head again. Maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing, because Iwaizumi was still stepping closer despite his warning.

"Are we not playing today?" he questioned, a dip between his eyebrows. "Do you know where everyone is?"

"They're..." He kicked at the ground, balling his fists and steeling himself, and swallowed. "They're not coming. They... don't want to play with me."

"What? Why?" It visibly made no sense to Iwaizumi, because Oikawa was a good player and the boys had loved having him on their team up until only yesterday. If he knew the truth, Oikawa thought gravely, it would probably make  _tons_ of sense to him. He would probably run for the hills, too.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, that the very last boy standing would probably think he was a monster as well, even if he and Iwaizumi had never been very close among the group of boys. Trembling slightly – whether from nerves or from anger or from rejection, he didn't know – he snatched the bandana from his head and declared, "Because of  _this!"_

Iwaizumi's flat stare traveled up to his head, at the two horns peeking out from under his brown hair, still baby-sized given how young he was. He said nothing, just staring at the foreign objects, but he also didn't run for the hills. In fact, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, seemingly contemplating something, before he simply shrugged.

"Whatever. That's  _their_  problem, I guess." He held up his ball. "Wanna play?"

Oikawa faltered, twisting the cloth in his hand like a lifeline. "You... don't mind?"

"Why would I care?" he huffed, looking annoyed that they were still talking about this as he aimlessly tossed his ball into the air. "Look, do you want to play or not? I missed practice yesterday, so now I'm a day behind everyone else." The scowl on his face was prominent, like he couldn't  _stand_ the thought of falling behind.

But Oikawa wasn't willing to let the topic go, not when his heart had filled with newfound hope. "You don't mind that I'm a monster?" The word felt foreign on his tongue, almost plain  _wrong,_ but he forced it out anyway. He had to  _know._

Iwaizumi shrugged. "You don't seem very monster-ish to  _me._ Now, here. Receive this."

Without giving him a chance to reply, he tossed the ball in his direction, and Oikawa had to quickly drop his bandana to receive the ball with both his arms, sending it back to Iwaizumi, who did the same. As skilled as they were, they kept the monotonous volley going for so long that Oikawa didn't have a chance to tie his horns back again, and by the time the ball finally slipped from one of their wrists and went flying somewhere into the woods, he had forgotten all about it.

For the first time, his horns remained exposed the entire afternoon.

.

"Don't the... other boys tell you not to play with me?" Oikawa asked carefully, dipping his feet into the lake.

They had both paused their practice to bask in the coolness of the nearby river in this summer heat, Oikawa sitting with his feet in the water and Iwaizumi lounging on the ground beside him, and while Iwaizumi seemed content with the silence, Oikawa had so many questions and worries in his mind that he  _had_ to get them out.

He and Iwaizumi had been meeting for weeks now, mostly just to practice their volley, but also to swim in the river or to collect bugs or to play hide-and-seek in the forest. He never wrapped his horns any more, never  _had_ to when he was with Iwaizumi, and though he knew those in the palace would severely punish him for exposing himself to a human if they ever found out, he couldn't bring himself to care. He liked being who he was around Iwaizumi, who never judged or looked at him with fear or called him a monster. These last few weeks had been dream-like.

But in that time, none of the other boys from the village had shown up again.

Iwaizumi sighed, cracking open one eye to glare at him for disturbing the peace. "They do," he grunted, because he wasn't one to lie. "Then I just tell them they're all idiots."

"Don't they get mad?" he wanted to know, splashing his feet in the water.

"Why should I care if I make those morons mad?" was his answer. He threw an arm over his eyes, shielding himself from the sun, but the other hand rested in the grass beside him and Oikawa stared at it.

He licked his lips. "Didn't they... tell everyone about me?"

Iwaizumi hummed, then barked in laughter just once – a harsh sound.  _"Ha!_ Who's gonna believe them? Everyone thinks they're just little boys making up stories." After a moment of silence, he mumbled, "And it doesn't help their case when I go around telling everyone it's just one of their games. You should see how annoyed all the grown-ups get."

Oikawa watched his lips curl into a smirk, and for some reason, his heartbeat suddenly raced. Maybe it was the idea of Iwaizumi sticking up for him, like he didn't want Oikawa disappearing from his life, or maybe it was how noble and heroic that smirk made him look, like he was some grand knight protecting his demon king. In the end, Oikawa decided he didn't care what it was, as long as it meant Iwaizumi stayed by his side.

His eyes trailed back to the hand he had been staring at, nestled innocently in the grass, and he only hesitated once before taking it into his grasp. Iwaizumi's fingers twitched, mostly from the surprise, but he didn't say anything or look out from under his arm or frown in disgust. He also didn't move his hand away.

Oikawa kicked at the water, held his hand tightly, and thought it would be nice if things stayed like this forever.

.

Things couldn't stay the same forever. Oikawa had been a naïve little boy who had wished it so, but then they grew older, and they grew  _up,_ and one afternoon Iwaizumi was hot so instead of dunking himself in the river like usual, he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off over his head. And everything was different.

Oikawa took in every inch of his skin, at every drop of sweat clinging to his muscles, traveling down his body, making a path for his eyes to follow, and he swallowed thickly. He wondered if it was normal to want to lick someone's sweat, to run his hands down someone's abs, to kiss another boy's neck.

He also wondered whether there were girls in the village who had such thoughts about Iwaizumi too, and the thought made him burn. Then everything was different, because dark thoughts began to plague his mind: keeping Iwaizumi all to himself, whisking him off to his palace forever, finding a potion or a spell or  _something_ that would make Iwaizumi hideous to anyone else but him. Because what was the point of his magic, of his gifts, if he couldn't use it to keep the person he cared about by his side completely?

"What are you staring like an idiot at?" Iwaizumi snapped, fanning himself against the heat, and Oikawa pulled out of his dark fantasies. Iwaizumi would never be happy chained down, he knew, and there was no telling whether  _he_ wanted to stay together forever like Oikawa did. That thought burned him up even more.

"Iwa-chan," he chirped teasingly, because he couldn't let the darkness in his heart show on his face. "Please go jump in the river, would you? You're all gross and sweaty and stinky like a pig."

Iwaizumi knocked the ball into his face, flushing.  _"You're_ filthy, too!" he snarled.

Oikawa clapped a hand over his bleeding nose, trying to stop the gush. "How awful, Iwa-chan!" he whined, his voice sounding clogged. "How dare you do this to the prince of all demons?"

"The prince of all demons can take his bloody nose and go jump in the river himself," he snapped, turning away. "And you can  _drown,_ too, for all I care!"

Oikawa gasped dramatically, playfully smacking him between the shoulder blades and ignoring the feel of skin on skin, and said gravely, "You'd miss me if I was gone."

"As  _if_ ," Iwaizumi huffed, but then he discreetly glanced over his shoulder and seemed to regret how much blood Oikawa was losing, because he grabbed his discarded shirt and used it to hastily rub at the blood flow.

"Your shirt!" Oikawa tried to protest, but Iwaizumi cut across him with a sharp, "Shut up. It's not important. Now hold still."

By the end Iwaizumi's shirt was stained so badly it could no longer be used again, but still he didn't seem to care as he double and triple checked his nose for any more bleeding, and Oikawa affirmed fondly that he  _would_ care if Oikawa drowned,  _would_ miss him if he was gone. Iwaizumi titled up his chin and leaned in close, peering at his nose, and Oikawa pressed his fingers against his bare arm and resisted the urge to kiss him.

.

Sunlight peeked through the crack in the curtains, and Oikawa unwillingly pried open his dry eyes; they were groggy from a night of bare minimum sleep and red from all the reading he had done in the light of a single candle, but more than anything, he didn't want his dream to end.

How long had it been, he wondered, since he had seen Iwaizumi in his dreams?

Outside the dream world, it had been so long that he could no longer count the days without looking at a calendar, and even  _in_ his dream world, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had a sweet dream of their childhood rather than those gripping nightmares about finding him married, with a family of his own, no longer able to remember Oikawa and how much they had meant to each other.

He arched his back in a stretch and, with a groan, threw his legs over the bed, getting to his feet and adorning his nearby robe. When he scratched his head, in the middle of a yawn, his fingers bumped against something hard.

His horns. They were no longer baby ones, but had grown into those befitting the Grand King, large and regal and powerful in their own way. It had been a long time since he had last bound them; after taking his throne and ruling the palace, he'd abolished the rule he'd hated as a child, and there had been some sweet satisfaction in knowing that there was nothing anyone could have done about it.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," a gaggle of maids giggled as he stepped out of his room, and they broke into soft shrieks of delight when he waved at them cheerily. It felt good to be king, he thought contently.

A deep drawl at his side disrupted his good mood. "Popular as ever, I see, Grand King," Kuroo observed with a smirk. Somehow everything he said always came out sounding like some big joke, but while it had rubbed Oikawa the wrong way when they had first met, he had gotten used to it now.

"Don't be jealous," he hummed back, his voice silky. They started down the hallway together, towards the breakfast hall.

"I'm not. I have Kenma, remember?"

"Ah, yes, your mage friend," he remembered, rolling his eyes. "Do you really  _have_ him, though, when you're here at my side rather than his?"

"All in due time," Kuroo replied cheerfully, like he  _hadn't_ come knocking at the Grand King's door over some childish tantrum. "I must say, though, King, that you're in an awfully good mood for this morning. Do you even have the right to criticize my relationships when your own are falling through the cracks?"

They walked through the doors of the dining hall with a flourish, and then Oikawa turned towards him with a frown. "What  _ever_ could you mean?"

Kuroo's expression changed suddenly, from a hazy smirk to one of delight, like he had some  _delicious_ secret he was just dying to share.  _"Oh?"_ he purred, his voice soft like honey. "Do you not  _know?"_

Oikawa frowned, his stomach twisting when he realized he was missing something. "Know what?"

Kuroo wasn't done dangling the bait in front of him yet. "How can you not know?" he said instead, slipping into the seat beside his, which was at the front of the giant dining table. Placing his chin over the back of his knuckles, he leaned forward and smirked. "You were just in town yesterday, weren't you,  _King?_ The news is everywhere. You should have heard."

And now Oikawa was annoyed, because he couldn't stand not knowing what others did and he couldn't stand evasive conversations like this when he was not the one doing the evading. "Know  _what?"_ he repeated, but with the sharp authority of a royal this time.

Kuroo leaned back, picking at a nail as he mused, "What was that guy's name? You know, the one you're so obsessed with? Iwaizumi? Ah, no. What did you call him?  _Iwa-chan."_

Oikawa's breath stopped, and the rest of the world seemed to as well. Was there something happening with Iwa-chan that he didn't know about? "What  _about_ him?" he demanded, urgency in his voice.

"Well, it's all over town, you know. Everyone's  _so happy_ for him. He's made a name for himself as a knight, and now  _this._ Honestly, he must be  _heartbroken_ his childhood friend hasn't sent him congratulations yet."

"Congratulations for  _what?"_ Oikawa snapped, losing all his patience. But maybe he should have held on to all the patience in the world, so he would never have had to hear the news Kuroo dropped on him next – the news that went straight through his heart.

"Didn't you hear? Your  _Iwa-chan_ is getting married to the princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next pov: iwaizumi!
> 
> title: the kidnapping
> 
> hope you like it so far! and especially you, steph ^^


	2. Iwaizumi: The Kidnapping

With the coming of Spring, it became widespread knowledge all throughout the land that the king was looking for a husband for his daughter – the future king of the kingdom, for that was what anyone who married Princess Yui would become. And there were rumors that he didn't want any of those frivolous, immoderate princes from the neighboring countries for his daughter; they would ruin her sanctity, as they would ruin the country. So he had decided to turn towards the men in his own kingdom. Mainly, as the rumors said, his knights.

Iwaizumi hadn't become a knight to marry the princess. Far from it, in fact.

He'd lost his parents not long after adolescence, dead within minutes in a mining accident, and so at a very young age, he'd had to set out alone to survive on his own and make a name for himself. Knighthood had called to him like it had to many of the boys in his village, but unlike them, Iwaizumi hadn't done it for the riches, or the glory, or the privileges. He had done it because he was a protector, and he knew this because he'd spent most of his childhood protecting an innocent, if not highly irritating, demon from the cruelty of human prejudices. He'd gazed upon a sword and easily pictured himself standing at the front line of a battle, ready and willing to defend those who could not defend themselves.

Rising so quickly in ranks had surprised him just as much as it had anyone else. He didn't think it was because he was excessively skilled, but rather because the other boys who studied for knighthood alongside him were just grossly incompetent. These were the same boys who had shunned Oikawa for being who he was, and Iwaizumi pondered that perhaps their inner ugliness held them back from being truly noble.

The king would often come out himself to watch his sword practices, and that had been nothing if not flattering.

"He's quite skilled," he would muse, stroking his beard as he watched Iwaizumi take down his practice partner. "Iwaizumi Hajime, you said his name was?"

But never in a million centuries would Iwaizumi have expected the  _king_ to remember his name, nor would he have  _ever_ pictured himself in this position: seated in a conference room within the palace walls, around a table with only himself, the king, and the princess.

Iwaizumi observed them both, his face stony and giving nothing away.

Princess Yui was a fidgety one. She wriggled constantly in her seat, looking about the room and sometimes meeting his eyes before quickly looking away, never seeming to sit still. He'd had the pleasure of meeting her on several previous occasions, usually during palace balls they were both required to attend, and he did not dislike her; she was an agreeable person, very friendly and talkative for a royal, and he also knew this constant fidgeting was common for her, because she was never comfortable having to sit still for so long.

Still, he couldn't imagine  _marrying_ her.

The king was the opposite of his daughter. He was rigid, still, not an ounce of restlessness in his posture. As was his habit, he continuously stroked his chin as he thought, and he looked at Iwaizumi with something akin to admiration in his eyes.

"So, what do you say?" he asked gruffly, and even though he phrased it as a question, Iwaizumi knew he did not have the luxury to refuse. To refuse the king's wishes – and an offer to marry his daughter at that – was to ask for a death sentence.

This was the price of being the most skilled knight in the court, Iwaizumi knew, but still, as the answer left his tongue, he could not help but think of one person: a bratty, baby-horned prince of all demons from his childhood.

He ducked his head, and then sealed his fate. "It would be an honor, Your Majesty."

.

Days after the announcement had been made, Iwaizumi found time to himself for the first time. He'd been whisked from one meeting to another constantly, the king and his advisors always at his sides as they readied him to take the throne, and he also found himself subjected to curious questions from the villagers whenever he ventured into town.

Through it all, ever since their marriage meeting, he had not seen Princess Yui once.

Iwaizumi thought that was strange. Shouldn't he have been allowed to talk to the person he was to wed? To grow close to the girl he would spend the rest of his life with? An advisor had told him the princess was tied up with wedding plans, and Iwaizumi thought of how fidgety she'd been at their meeting and almost felt sorry for her. Being constantly subjected to talk of ribbons and dresses and food and guests and the ceremony was probably torture for the girl.

But still, he did not have time to pity another when he didn't even have time for  _himself_ these days, and so it was only several days after the news of their engagement had been spread that the knight found time to breathe.

He situated himself on some abandoned palace steps, and now that his head was clear, he allowed himself to think of the one person he hadn't thought of in a long while now: Oikawa.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of him, but that he hadn't  _let_ himself think of him. Because he didn't know  _how_ he could, or should, after years had passed and they hadn't once spoken to each other – not even heard of each other through the wind. His entry into knighthood and Oikawa's rise to his demon throne had caused them to drift, and a boy who had once been such a big part of his life was no more. Iwaizumi didn't like to think about it, because he didn't like how much it hurt to miss Oikawa.

Briefly, he wondered what Oikawa would think if he heard Iwa-chan was getting married. And to the princess, at that.

He imagined his voice now, whiny and infuriating as he chirped,  _"Oh, the poor princess! Stuck with such an ugly brute for a husband! We can only hope the children take after her more than they do you."_

Even just thinking about it now had him clenching his fist, like he wanted to club the stupid demon over the head, even though the words had only been in his own imagination. That was what Oikawa did to him.

With a sigh, he got to his feet. It was time to return to the king for another lesson, this time on how to maintain peace at the borders.

He took a single step, and suddenly the clanging sounds of bells sounded out throughout the palace.

Whipping his head around, his hand instantly landing on his sword, he bolted up the stairs on high alert, taking them two, three at a time in his rush. Those were the warning bells, he thought frantically, his heart racing, and skidded around corners as he raced for the heart of the palace. They rang only when an enemy had invaded their walls.

_Shit, shit, shit!_ What had he missed? What had happened while he'd been busy taking a breather?

He burst into the central hall and found a large crowd of buzzing servants in the middle of the room, hysterical with fear and worry as they talked over one another. Iwaizumi picked out a single sound from within their circle: light, mournful sobbing.

Pushing his way through the throng of people, he found a maid collapsed on the floor, reduced to a sobbing mess. She was, he realized with a skip of his heart, the princess's personal maid.

He frantically tried to remember her name, kneeling before her and taking her by the shoulders. "Miss Yachi," he finally remembered, and though he tried to soften his voice so as not to scare her, he didn't think he quite managed it. "What happened?"

She peeked out from behind her hands, shaking from her tears, looking stricken. She was just a girl, not even of age yet, and Iwaizumi wondered what exactly she had witnessed that had done this to her.

He tried to be soothing as he repeated, "What  _happened?"_

"Th-the princess!" she squeaked, burying her face back in her hands, so that her words were muffled. "He-he came out of nowhere. Like, from thin air! Th-there was n-nothing I could do.  _Oh, princess!"_

" _Who?"_ he demanded, his head spinning. "Who came? What happened to the princess?"

Yachi cracked open her fingers, met his hard eyes, and finally wailed for the entire hall to hear.

"The princess was kidnapped by the Grand King!"

.

A low-hanging branch pulled at his hair, and Iwaizumi cussed as he untangled himself from the mess. This forest was notorious for its dense trees, its dark creatures, and its appetite; it swallowed those who entered, who were destined to never return. It was the perfect place for the Grand King to house his castle.

Iwaizumi had realized only when the princess had been kidnapped, when he'd begun this journey, that he essentially didn't know anything about Oikawa. How was it possible, he wondered, for him to have known a boy all his childhood, to be as close as the two had been, and to have never learned about his life outside of that clearing?

He hadn't even known of the castle's location. Oikawa had never told him as children, had never brought him over for a visit or disclosed such private information about his castle. Iwaizumi hadn't even known where to  _begin_ his search, and it had only been by chance that he had stumbled upon a quaint little store,  _Kenma's Magic Shop,_ where the quiet shop owner had seemed to know more about the Grand King than anyone possibly could and had shown him the way.

"Getting in, however," the boy had whispered, twirling his hair and averting his gaze, "will be tricky. It's said that... there is an enchantment upon the walls – a secret to entry. Even I do not know. You must break the spell yourself. I can only show you the way."

Iwaizumi glanced down at the sword in his hand. The boy had also quietly taken it to the back room, presumably to cast a spell on it or grant it some power, but it hadn't felt any different when he had returned it, nor had the boy told him what he had done. Iwaizumi figured it was one of those things that disclosed themselves when the moment was right. As a knight, he had come to appreciate those moments and learned the patience to wait for them.

"Shit, I should have grabbed my helmet," he hissed to himself as yet another branch snagged his hair. He  _hated_ that heavy, constricting helmet, so even though some thought it silly for a knight to wear full armor and then leave behind the head gear, that was exactly how he wore his suit. It had never troubled him up until now.

"That probably would have been best," a silky,  _familiar_ voice suddenly drawled nearby. "At least then you would have covered your ugly face from the world."

He whipped around, hand reflexively tightening on his sword, but saw nothing. Spinning in circles, taking care not to impale himself on the sharp branches, he searched for the origin of that voice, but all he saw was the cover of darkness.

"No need to panic, Iwa-chan. I'm right here."

A twig snapped at his side, and Iwaizumi whirled around, sword ready in hand. But he lowered it when Oikawa finally stepped out, coming into full view.

Years it had been since they'd seen each other, and in that time, the king of all demons had grown. He was taller than Iwaizumi now, though only barely, and that new height, even more than the exquisite robes, gave him a regal sort of presence that he hadn't possessed as a skinny child. And he was beautiful –  _so_ beautiful. Iwaizumi would have been embarrassed to think such a thing normally, but to call Oikawa anything but would have been an insult to his beauty; silky hair, sparkling skin, gems for eyes, and rosy lips that had twisted into a sinister smirk he didn't recognize.

But what Iwaizumi noticed most was his horns – no longer tiny buds, but strong and sturdy-looking, like they had grown up along with their owner.

"Wow, Iwa-chan," Oikawa hummed, looking him up and down, and even his voice had deepened. "Look at you. The big, bad knight."

Iwaizumi scowled, once again tightening the hold on his hilt. "Where's the princess?"

Oikawa immediately tutted in response, shaking his head as he lamented, "We finally have our  _touching_ reunion, and  _that's_ the first thing you say to me?"

" _Fine,"_ he hissed, clenching his teeth. But he didn't lower his sword. "How've you been?"

"Now  _that's_ more like it!" Oikawa nodded with approval, but that smirk was still twisting his lips, turning him into someone strange and unfamiliar. He wasn't the innocent but irritating little boy Iwaizumi remembered. "I've been good, Iwa-chan! Just busy ruling the demon world and all the duties that come with it. And how about you?" His voice lowered along with his eyelids, turning sharp and cold. "I've heard you've been  _very busy."_

Iwaizumi wondered whether he meant the engagement. Had he heard about it?

"...I have," he replied cautiously, careful as he treaded with his words. He didn't know anything about this new Oikawa, and he didn't know how much Oikawa knew about  _him._ It felt wrong to be on guard against his childhood friend, but while he had the princess in his clutches, he was someone Iwaizumi did not know.

"It's good to keep busy," Oikawa mused cheerfully, grinning. "If you let yourself get too idle, you might  _almost_ remember old friends you have to keep in touch with, and that's a problem, isn't it? Such a  _chore._ "

Iwaizumi faltered, regret flashing across his features as Oikawa's words sunk in. "Oikawa..."

"No, no!" Oikawa cut across him, airily waving a hand his way. "Don't get all sad on me, Iwa-chan. It doesn't do well to linger in the past. So what if it's been a couple years or more? We're still friends, right?"

The smile on his face was so bright, so pure, so open. Iwaizumi relaxed when he saw it, putting his guard down, because he wanted to be friends still, too. "Yeah," he replied softly, one end of his mouth quirking up into a small smile. "Yeah, we are, Oikawa."

"And as your friend... do I get an invitation to the wedding?"

It was almost unfathomable how quickly that smile disappeared – how quickly a beam like the sun fell into a cold glare that spoke of betrayal, eyes hollow and lips pursed. It was a look that could have killed the forest around them, bringing destruction to life.

Iwaizumi didn't know what to say. "L-Listen, Oikawa–"

"When were you going to tell me, Iwa-chan? Or did I just ruin some sort of  _wonderful_ surprise?" His voice was like ice, cutting right through the knight, and for some reason it pricked most strongly at Iwaizumi's heart.

"I-It's just been a busy couple of days–"

" _Years,_ Iwa-chan. It's been years."

"I didn't mean for that to happen..."

"But it did," Oikawa interrupted him, and the frown on his face softened into something much worse: insecurity. "Was it that easy to forget me, Iwa-chan? Did you even think about me at  _all_ over these years?"

"Of...  _of course_  I did, _dumbass!"_ Iwaizumi snarled, and this time when his grip on his sword tightened, it was from boiling rage rather than to ready himself for an attack.  _How_ could Oikawa  _ever_ think he could be thrown out of his life as easily as spoiled milk? Just the thought alone had his temper reaching breaking point.

Oikawa looked at him in surprise. "Y-You did?"

"Hell  _yes,_ you stupid moron! The  _fuck_  did you think, that I could spend half my life with a person and then throw them out when I didn't have them around anymore? The  _hell_ kind of person do you take me for?" He was practically hissing and spitting in his anger, so wrapped up that he didn't notice the hope flash across Oikawa's eyes. "You wanna know  _what?_ I fucking thought about  _you_ when the king asked me to marry his daughter,  _okay?_ And I don't even know  _why._ Maybe I wanted you to be a part of a big step in my life, I don't know. So  _don't_ fucking say you don't matter to me when you have no idea how much I've missed –  _mmph!"_

Oikawa crossed the distance between them in three strides, moving so swiftly it was as if he was floating, and then he took Iwaizumi's face in his hands and slid their mouths together.

Iwaizumi stumbled, eyes widening in shock, and his back crashed into a nearby tree, rooting him to the spot and giving Oikawa an easier chance to press his lips against his even harder, furiously meshing them together. His hold on his sword tightened once, and then his fingers uncurled stiffly, so that it fell to the ground with a  _clang._

His eyes fluttered shut. Oikawa's mouth melted over his like butter, sliding effortlessly over his lips and pecking at them in soft kisses, and Iwaizumi blindly grasped at the tree trunk as his head swirled. Vaguely he wondered how Oikawa had learned to kiss so well; he felt so clumsy in comparison, even though it was almost on reflex that he automatically kissed back. He tried his best to return the favor, so that Oikawa might feel even an  _ounce_ of the butterflies he suddenly felt in his own stomach.

He wasn't sure how long they kissed. It couldn't have been  _too_ long, because his lungs had yet to protest from lack of air even as his breath came out in short puffs, but still it felt like time dragged on. But in a good way, like everything stood still except for the way Oikawa's mouth moved over his, or the way Oikawa's fingers caressed his cheeks.

Then reality doused him in cold water when he felt something wet slide along his upper lip. It was Oikawa's tongue, pressing at the space between his lips, asking for entry.

Eyes shooting open, he pushed the demon king away, panting and wiping at his lips as he swooped for his sword.

_What the hell?_ he thought to himself wildly, his thoughts a complete mess. He'd just  _kissed_  Oikawa. He'd  _liked_ kissing Oikawa.

He said it aloud. "What the hell?"

Oikawa looked back at him in surprise, panting himself, though he seemed to be breathing hard from the rush rather than from the shock of what they had just done.  _"Iwa-chan,"_ he complained, "you just ruined the best part!"

Pouting, he took a single step back towards him, but Iwaizumi held out a hand to keep him at bay and the rosiness in his cheeks disappeared.

"W-We..." He swallowed loudly, trying to get a grip on reality. It was hard when he could still feel the wetness of Oikawa's tongue lingering on his mouth. "We  _can't."_

Oikawa frowned, his lips pursed. "Of course we can. We just  _did."_

"No, it's wrong. I-I... I'm engaged to the princess."

And just as quickly as his smile earlier had changed into a glare, now his frown smoothed out into a face devoid of  _any_ expression – just a face like a mask, like a broken doll. His pursed lips trembled, much like the fists at his side.

"Oh." He spit the single syllable out through clenched teeth. "I see. So you...  _love_ the princess now, do you?"

Iwaizumi scowled. "That's not what I–"

"Can't kiss anyone else!" Oikawa cried over him, tightly clutching at his robes. He looked very much like he'd just been punched in the gut. "Can't be unfaithful to the princess! Because your engagement is  _so_ important, right? It's what you want,  _right?_ And you can't jeopardize that for a meaningless demon king.  _Right?"_

Iwaizumi held out a hand, reaching for him. "Oikawa, that's not what I–"

But Oikawa stepped away, away from his grasp, not letting him touch him. With a shake of his head, his eyes steely, he stepped back into the darkness. "All right, fine," he hissed, but there was no bark in his voice. "Come get her, then, if you love her so much. She's waiting for her knight to rescue her."

"Oikawa," Iwaizumi rasped, and he was regretting  _so many_ things at once that it was hard to speak at all.

Oikawa paused, but not at his call. Instead, he reached into the inside pocket of his robes, digging around in search of something before pulling out a small cloth. He tossed it to Iwaizumi, who barely paid it any mind and caught it only as a reflex.

"For your head," Oikawa said softly, sadly, stepping farther into the forest. "Because of the branches."

And then, he vanished.

Stricken and suddenly alone, Iwaizumi glanced down at what he held in his hand, and his heart jumped into his throat as he recognized the bandana Oikawa had used as a child to bind his horns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> suddenly angsty, muahaha! so the next chapter will have less oikawa and iwaizumi, but instead will introduce the other characters in this story :)
> 
> next pov: kenma
> 
> title: the quest


	3. Kenma: The Quest

"Kenma, Kenma! It's  _terrible!_ The princess has been kidnapped –  _whoa!"_

There was a loud  _crash_ as Hinata undoubtedly went skidding into a display of items in his shop, and Kenma sighed in the back room as he slowly got to his feet. Shooting a quick, apologetic look to the lone customer in the room with him, he set down the arrow in his clutch and shuffled out to the front of the shop, pushing aside the curtain barrier as he did so.

Hinata was slowly getting to his feet, rubbing his backside as he cringed from the pain. Beside him, a large collection of trinkets lay scattered on the floor, along with a flipped table. When he noticed Kenma silently watching him from the other end of the room, he immediately jumped to attention.

A hand rubbed the back of his neck as he sheepishly laughed, "Whoops! My bad!"

"It's fine," Kenma sighed, rounding the counter. The bird perched on his staff cheeped loudly, as if scolding Hinata in its master's place.

"Did you hear about the princess?" Hinata demanded, scrambling to pick up everything he had dropped. He righted the table, then deposited all the trinkets on its surface in a messy pile that was nowhere near as neat as the one he had destroyed.

Kenma nodded.

"Isn't it  _terrible!"_ he wailed, sounding distraught. "I only met her once, you know, but she was really nice to me. And Natsu, too! What if something bad happens to her!"

"I..." Kenma fidgeted on the spot, ducking his head and staring at his feet. "I don't think the Grand King will... actually hurt her."

"What do you mean? He kidnapped her, didn't he? Doesn't that mean he wants to hurt her?" Hinata scratched his hair, looking confused, but Kenma did not reply to his questions.

"What brings you here, Shouyou?" he asked instead, leading Hinata to two nearby stools by the counter. He didn't like standing for long, even with the staff in his clutch to lean on.

"Oh! Right!" Almost as if he had forgotten his reason for coming, Hinata bounced in his seat and banged a fist into his palm. "I wanted to ask if you know where the Grand King's palace is? Because I asked around, and  _no one_ knows! Not even like a rumor or something! Isn't that  _weird?"_

Kenma watched him with sharp eyes, his eyebrows dipping in concern. His lips slanted. "You... want to go after the Grand King?" he asked quietly, and when Hinata vigorously nodded his head, he questioned, "Why?"

"Because of  _this!"_ Rummaging in his pocket, he procured a small piece of parchment that had been folded several times, and carefully pried it apart and pressed down the creases before handing it to Kenma.

It was a wanted poster. An artist's keenly accurate rendering of the Grand King took up the majority of the page, but the poster itself, if one read the words, was a call for a brave hero who was willing to rescue the captured princess. Hinata excitedly jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the poster.

"See, see? Look here! It says the king will pay a  _million yen_ to anyone who can save the princess and defeat the Grand King!"

Kenma frowned at the paper, and then his sharp gaze slowly trailed towards Hinata's face instead, carefully observing his flushed cheeks and cheery grin. He was giddily bouncing on the stool, as if he couldn't  _wait_ to start his quest, and Kenma sadly averted his eyes. He knew why Hinata was doing this.

"Is... Natsu still not well?" he whispered, and couldn't bear to watch when he  _felt_ Hinata deflate at the inquiry.

"...No," the boy replied, sounding subdued himself. "She's worse, I think. None of the doctors can tell me how long she has."

Kenma shrunk in the silence, even though normally it made him thrive. It was his greatest regret, as a mage and as Hinata's friend, that he could not provide him with the medicine his sister needed. He was not well-versed in magical medicine – only fortune-telling and minor spells or incantations – and he couldn't risk accidentally causing Natsu's condition to worsen. Hinata had been scrambling for a cure since the day she had first collapsed, and he had finally found one not too long ago in the form of an expensive herb that no orphan could ever be able to afford. It made sense that this get-rich-quick scheme appealed to him so strongly.

"But, Shouyou," Kenma murmured, "the Grand King is... not someone who is easily defeated. And especially not by a single person–"

"Oh, I'm not going alone!" Hinata suddenly chirped, and he sounded perky again, like they hadn't mentioned his ailing sister at all. Kenma had always thought his optimism was his most admirable feature. "Aone is coming with me! He's here, actually, but he stayed outside. You know he gets shy since he doesn't really fit in here."

Kenma knew Hinata used the word "fit" in a very literal sense; Aone was much too big for Kenma's quaint little shop. Any movement of his often sent multiple displays tumbling to the floor, and he felt clumsy and awkward and very,  _very_ guilty every time it happened, so he'd stopped coming in altogether.

While Aone could easily be mistaken as Hinata's guardian, Kenma still didn't think the boy's childhood neighbor would be enough to help him defeat the king of all demons. Hinata was still new to the world of heroism, no matter how much he liked to boldly declare that he was the most valiant hero there ever was, to Natsu's delight. He'd completed his sword training only months ago, after failing the first time due to accidentally impaling his instructor, and he was also impossibly clumsy. This mission would be like suicide if he was allowed to go.

"Shouyou, I think you should reconsider," he tried to insist.

But Hinata shook his head, his smile turning brittle at the ends. "I  _have_ to go, Kenma," he persisted. "Natsu needs me. I'm her big brother."

Kenma watched him scratch the back of his neck, seemingly embarrassed by his unexpectedly cool words, and sighed softly. There was no talking Hinata out of things, though it was ridiculously easy to talk him  _into_ things. He'd learned as much ages ago.

"All right, Shouyou," he relented, nodding once. "If you'd like to go, then... I'll tell you about the Grand King's palace."

" _Really?"_ Eyes sparkling, he flashed his trademark grin – the kind that showed teeth and lit up his entire face until it was impossible to look at directly. "Oh, wow! Thanks, Kenma!"

With another nod, the mage turned towards the tiny crow perched silently at the top of his staff. It chirped once at its master's gaze, hopping on the spot, before fluttering down to land on Kenma's finger. They stared each other down, strangely silent and unblinking, before the mage abruptly broke eye contact.

"The Grand King's palace," he told Hinata quietly, "is in the Aoba forest."

"Aoba forest," he repeated, nodding curtly. "Got it."

"It's a dangerous forest," he continued, wiggling his feet and frowning. His bird flew back to the top of his staff, once again falling silent. "There are monsters you cannot imagine inside. It's said that those who enter never return."

Hinata swallowed loudly, hanging onto his every word, but didn't seem inclined to back down from the challenge at all.

"The palace has an enchantment on it. I... can't tell you the details. They are unclear."

The boy shook his head. "No problem! I'll figure it out! Thanks for all the information, Kenma! You're the best!" He sprang off his stool and bounced for the door, humming giddily now that he had what he had come for and could start his quest.

Kenma coiled a lock of his hair around his finger, pondering the idea that had suddenly popped into his head. It didn't sit right with him still to let Hinata venture off into the Aoba forest, just him and Aone, not when Hinata was so young and clumsy and not ready for a quest of this caliber. The more people who went with him, the safer he would be. He hesitated, his eyes flitting towards the back room, before making up his mind.

"...Shouyou?" he called after him, sliding off his own stool. "Could you come back in?"

Curious, the hero did just that while Kenma walked around to the back of the counter and lifted apart the curtain hiding the back room from view. His one customer still sat where he had left him, back straight and his entire posture rigid, as if he had not moved a muscle. He looked up when Kenma appeared in the doorway, his scowl loosening somewhat, though his burning eyes were not any less intense.

"Could you..." Kenma paused, looking away. He was uncomfortable under the scrutiny of that sharp gaze for too long, but this was for Hinata. "Could you come to the front? There's... someone I would like you to meet."

He stood up at once, drawing himself to his full, impressive height, and dropped his bag of arrows on the chair in his place as he complied. Ducking well down to half his height, he crossed the threshold between the back of the store to the front, and Hinata leaned his head back in awe to take in his full stature.

"Who's this?" he asked Kenma excitedly.

Kenma clutched his staff tightly with one hand, and gestured towards his customer with the other. "This is... Kageyama Tobio. He's an archer."

"An  _archer?"_ Hinata repeated, in total awe of this new person who had a skill he did not possess. He'd been the exact same way when he had met Kenma for the first time. "A  _mage?"_ he'd exclaimed gleefully, almost embracing him in his excitement, except Kenma had quickly shuffled away to avoid contact and Hinata had understood that he did not like to be touched.

"He has the same goal as you," he told Hinata softly. "He wants to defeat the Grand King also."

Hinata's eyes visibly sparkled, as if he understood without Kenma having to say it that the mage wanted them to join forces. Hinata was all for making new friends, especially those who could teach him new tricks, and he would probably prattle off questions for Kageyama during their entire journey, but he would also probably be an expert at getting the archer to open up.

Beaming, he held out a hand for a shake and introduced himself. "I'm Hinata Shouyou! A hero!"

But Kageyama did not take his hand. Instead, still scowling lightly, he looked down at Hinata with pinched lips and intense, furrowed eyebrows before muttering, "How are you going to defeat the Grand King when you're so short?"

Hinata went rigid, his smile freezing on his face, and Kenma shut his eyes – his version of a groan. He'd watched Kageyama and he had a feeling the archer had not meant to say such a tactless thing. He was honestly confused, like he couldn't understand how someone so small and sprightly could fight against a demon king. It was even a very reasonable worry, except most people would likely not have voiced it aloud. And he had no idea how touchy Hinata was about his height, after all.

Hinata went from chirpy bird to raging bear in record speed, and with an indignant flash in his eyes, he howled,  _"What did you just say!"_

Kageyama flinched, taking a step back after suddenly finding himself at the end of a shrill screech, but Hinata was not done.

" _Kenma!"_ he whined, rounding on his friend and jabbing a finger at the archer. "How could you want me to go with such a  _rude_ person! He has no manners, I swear! I don't need someone like  _him_ on my team!"

"Oi, oi," Kageyama interjected, frowning deeply. It seemed he did not take kindly to being talked about as if he was not there. "I never said I  _wanted_ to join your team, stupid. You'd probably hold me back anyway."

" _Me,_ hold  _you_ back?" Hinata barked back, stamping his foot. "I may be short, but I'm  _awesome_ with my sword,  _I'll have you know._ While all  _you_ have is some stupid arrows. They're so much less cooler!"

Kageyama shot out a hand and grabbed his head, glowering down at the boy as he struggled. "Dumbass," he hissed through his teeth. "Don't you know arrows are the _coolest?_  An archer has to have perfect precision and aim right in the middle of a battle!"

"Ow, le'go!" Hinata complained, yanking Kageyama's fingers out of his hair. They began a hectic struggle of trying to topple the other over, interlocking their fingers and pushing with all their might as they glared daggers at one another.

Kenma shifted uncomfortably on the spot, looking over their heads. "Um... so... I think you should go together," he mumbled, and suddenly  _he_ was the one at the end of their sharp glares.

"Why do I have to go with  _this_ jerk?" Hinata whined, trying to jab his foot into Kageyama's gut.

Kenma ignored him for the moment, and instead he turned towards the archer, whom he knew was someone who could be bargained with. He was the stubborn type, after all, and he would do almost anything to get what he wanted. There was leverage there, as a shop owner and his customer.

"Kageyama," he murmured, his lips slanted in thought. "That enchantment you came for? I'll only do it... if you join Hinata's party."

The archer abruptly released Hinata's hands, unintentionally sending the boy falling face-first to the ground when the force disappeared without warning, and snapped into a rigidly straight stance. "Would you please be willing to reconsider?" he asked seriously, his booming voice echoing throughout the shop. "If I have to join this guy's party, then..." His expression soured, and then he hastily finished, "Then I would rather face the Grand King all by myself with no arrows at all!"

Hinata made a noise of protest down below from the ground. "I can't believe you just said that!"

Kenma nodded slowly. "Those are my terms. And... we both know that the Grand King is not someone who can be defeated by a single person. You've had a run-in with him before, haven't you?"

He clenched his teeth, glaring at the ground at the memory of his loss, then curtly nodded his head once. Kenma took that to mean he accepted.

"Did you get your ass handed to you by the Grand King?" Kenma heard Hinata ask as he fetched the arrows from the back room, followed by a loud  _whack,_ and an indignant,  _"Ow!_ You didn't even hold back, you jerk! We're a  _team_ now, don't you know? _"_

Kenma only hoped that Aone's soothing presence would calm their great dislike of each other throughout the quest.

.

"Shouyou...?" he called hesitantly at the last second, just before the three set out from his magic shop and towards the Aoba forest.

Hinata turned back, leaving a curious Aone and Kageyama behind as he jogged back towards his mage friend. "Hm? What is it, Kenma?"

He fidgeted, uncomfortable with this entire situation, but finally reached into his robes and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper: a letter he had written with great care only moments ago, while Kageyama had been gearing up with his arrows. He handed the message to Hinata, who glanced at it curiously but did not ask what it was.

"If... you see Kuroo..." Kenma said, his voice trailing off until it was almost a whisper, "...could you give that to him?"

Hinata grinned, holding up the letter as he jogged back to his party. "You got it! See you when I get back, Kenma!"

Kenma did not reply, but the bird on his staff cheeped loudly in farewell.

.

The returning peace in his shop did not last long when the bell above the front door jingled, and Kenma curiously stuck his head out to find that a metal man had walked in. No, not a metal man, he corrected himself almost immediately. A knight dressed in metal armor.

"Are you the owner?" he asked gruffly upon catching sight of the mage. "Kenma, I suppose? That's what the sign outside said."

"...That's me," Kenma informed him, slowly shuffling out of the back room again. "Are you in need of magic?"

"Uh..." He scratched the back of his neck, looking unsure as he looked about the shop, which was crowded with displays of all sorts of strange, magical trinkets. "I don't know? I don't think so, actually. More like directions."

"Where do you wish to go?" Kenma questioned, already beckoning his bird to his finger.

"The, uh, Grand King's palace."

The mage paused, glancing at him through his bangs. It seemed he would not need his bird after all, and it flew back to the top of his staff.

"The Grand King's palace is deep within the Aoba forest," he told him, just like he had Hinata. But he did not warn him of the dangers, because he assumed that as a knight, he would already know; indeed, his lips pursed in thought, wrinkles appearing on his forehead. He  _did,_ however, feel that he should tell him of the palace walls, so with great focus towards twirling his hair, he averted his eyes and whispered, "Getting in... will be tricky. It's said that... there is an enchantment upon the walls – a secret to entry."

"A secret?" he repeated, frowning, but Kenma shook his head.

"Even I do not know. You must break the spell yourself. I can only show you the way."

He scowled, but nodded curtly, accepting his lack of knowledge. Kenma was grateful, because he had met many hostile knights in his day who did not like to hear cryptic, unfulfilled answers. He relaxed a bit more, and eyed the sword on the knight's hip. The royal insignia engraved on the end of the sheath denoted him as a knight of the court – an Aoba warrior.

"May I... see your sword?" he requested, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Huh? My sword?" Surprised, he glanced down at the weapon at his hip, and it took a moment before he registered the request and quickly pulled it out of its sheath. "Yeah, I suppose."

Kenma accepted it carefully, making sure his fingers did not slice against the sharp edges, and his hand trembled under its heavy weight. It was truly astounding that the knight could handle such a heavy, difficult blade.

Half-turning towards the back room, Kenma quirked an eyebrow and asked, "May I...?"

"I guess, yeah?" Though he seemed bewildered by his sudden interest, he also seemed to have decided that the tiny mage was someone he could trust. It was not strange, because Kenma knew that knights often relied on their instincts more than anything.

He carried it with him to the back room, the curtain in the doorway hiding him from view, and searched for a particular enchantment from his shelf. He found it wedged behind a bottle of liquid courage and the paper swan Natsu had made him last time she had visited the shop, and carried it with him, along with the blade, to his work table.

The knight was still waiting idly when he returned, perfectly at ease in his quaint shop, and accepted his blade back easily.

"What did you do?" he wanted to know, but Kenma only shrugged and answered with a vague, "Magic."

He frowned, watched Kenma for a few beats of silence, and then sighed gruffly in defeat. Scratching the back of his hair, he asked, "How much do I owe you for it, then?"

"No payment," he replied swiftly, shaking his head, and when the knight seemed he would argue, he hurried on to add, "Just... if you meet a man by the name of Kuroo..." He glanced away, cheeks flushing, and mumbled the rest. "...would you punch him just once?"

The knight gave him a strange look, but thankfully did not ask for elaboration. "Uh... all right, then. One punch it is." With a curt nod of his head – a sign of gratitude – he sheathed his blade back at his hip and turned to go.

"Also," Kenma added at the last second, staring past him and at the door instead. "If... you hesitate because the enemy is dear to you, then... perhaps this quest is not to save one person, but another."

His face seemed to have frozen in shock. "How did you...?"

But Kenma prused his lips and shook his head, hiding himself behind his bangs and the hood of his robes, refusing to divulge anything. Those who knew of his eyes – all-seeing – were only frightened and jilted, and so he had learned to never share that one secret.

The knight seemed to realize it was useless, because he scowled but did not press him again. "Thanks for the info," he grunted, and the door clanged shut behind him.

.

The shop was undisturbed for the rest of the afternoon, but nearing closing time, when the sun had already begun to dip in the sky, the bell rang again. Vaguely Kenma registered that this was the most visitors he had ever received in one day. No one ever came to a quaint little magic shop located in the middle of nowhere.

He did not recognize the man at the counter this time. He was not someone he knew previously, and he wore no distinguishing clothes or armor or weapons. In fact, he was just  _ordinary;_ short, black hair, bulky arms, civilian clothing, and a serious set to his jaw.

"The Grand King's palace is within the Aoba forest," Kenma told him before he could ask.

"How...?" He seemed surprised only for a moment, but then shook his head as understanding dawned upon him. "Magic shop. Right."

"There are enchantments upon the walls," he added, because it was only fair after he had told everyone else. "It will... not be an easy quest."

His eyes glinted, darkening with something grave and heavy. "I know," he replied simply, stepping away from the counter. As he did so, his cloak shifted, and Kenma realized he had been wrong about the man carrying no weapons when he saw something glint in the right light. But he could not make out what it was before the cloak covered it again. "Thank you for the information."

He said nothing as the mysterious man departed, but he did wonder who, out of all the heroes to set out on the quest today, would be the one to finally rescue the princess from her prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a "mysterious" man who's not even mysterious because all the characters are tagged lol
> 
> i hope no one was annoyed by the way kenma spoke. by all the ellipses, i mean. in my mind, mage kenma speaks in an even more willowy/whispery voice, and much more slowly, than anime kenma, so that was kind of my way of showing it through his speech. and i know that in the actual game kenma joins hinata's quest party, but in this au, he is just the wise mage who sends everyone off on their journeys instead :) don't worry, he'll make more appearances later!
> 
> next pov: oikawa
> 
> title: the princess


	4. Oikawa: The Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE LOOK AT [THIS](http://tanaka--saeko.tumblr.com/post/113091577923) GLORIOUS ARTWORK FOR THIS FIC.
> 
> BY [STEPH](http://tanaka--saeko.tumblr.com/). I _TOLD_ YOU SHE WAS AWESOME SAUCE.

Oikawa wondered whether he was a masochist. He wondered whether he just loved torturing himself to have come here, perched on a tree just outside the princess's bedroom, hoping for even a glimpse of the woman Iwa-chan would marry.

It would accomplish nothing, he kept telling himself, except maybe slice into his heart more than the news already had. But still, he was here, and he couldn't will his legs to move and take him far, far away.

Suddenly he heard voices from inside the palace, drawing closer and closer to the princess's room, and his heartbeat picked up, nearly stopping when the handle to the door pushed down and it swung open. A girl walked in – a little, sprightly thing with yellow, shoulder-length hair up in a side ponytail and chubby cheeks, and Oikawa almost stopped living altogether. Was he going to lose Iwa-chan to a  _child?_

But the girl clapped her hands, bouncing on her heels in excitement, and proclaimed to her companion, "Oh, Princess! You look beautiful!"

A woman stepped into the room with her, a sheepish smile on her face at all the praise, and if it was possible, Oikawa felt  _worse._ There she was, the woman Iwaizumi would marry, and she had big, brown eyes and cute, pixie hair and the sweetest smile a person could have.

"Oh, stop, Yachi!" she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Dresses like these really don't suit me after all." She picked at the light blue fabric, and her other hand trailed through the veil in her hair.

"Of course not, Princess!" Yachi insisted, her cheeks flushed red. "What's that they say? Fine feathers make fine birds? Well, you look very fine right now!"

The princess giggled rather than take offense to her words as she told her, "That saying is not exactly a compliment, you know."

_"Eep!"_ Yachi clapped a hand over her mouth, looking absolutely  _horrified_ with herself, and the princess couldn't help it; she belted out a laugh, reaching out to muss the girl's hair with affection. Oikawa imagined her running her hands through Iwaizumi's hair like that one day, and he had to look away.

_Go back to your palace,_ he told himself sternly.  _There's nothing for you here, stupid._

But still he kept on watching, his heart sinking into his stomach, as the princess and her maid both plopped down on the floor and began to chat about nonsensical things. Oikawa knew he didn't have room to talk, but it would have been so much easier to hate the princess and this marriage if she had been a terrible person – not this friendly girl who got along with her servants and would probably get along with Iwaizumi, too.

_If you didn't exist,_ he thought to himself bitterly, watching her laugh with her maid,  _then Iwa-chan wouldn't be getting married at all._

It was a terrible thought to have, one the girl did not deserve to have directed towards her. But it was like one of those dark thoughts he would often have as a child, about keeping Iwaizumi all to himself and away from others' eyes. Once it had entered his mind, it festered there, growing into something dark and heinous and refusing to budge.

_No princess, no wedding,_ he thought to himself, and it stuck.  _No princess, no wedding. No princess, no wedding. No princess, no wedding. No princess, no wedding..._

He lost himself in the chanting, dazed by the words stuck on an endless cycle in his mind, and soon they did what all words were capable of and grew to be much more. Almost hypnotized, he balanced himself on his feet, hand against the tree trunk for support, and then, he vanished. When he reappeared, it was before the princess, who stammered off mid-sentence in her shock.

"Who–" Yachi squeaked, her eyes rounding in alarm, but then her mistress stepped in front of her, arm splayed at her side as if to defend the young girl, and glared at Oikawa.

"What does the demon king want from us?" she asked, shuffling closer and closer to the girl, as if to physically shield her should he attack. It was a useless action. He didn't care about a maid; he had come for the royal herself.

Yachi gasped, cupping her mouth in terror as she learned of his title, and it looked like she might scream when she drew breath – except Oikawa would not let it escalate that far.

"No need to be hostile, Princess," he drawled, grinning boyishly. When he took a step forward, she took a step back, pushing Yachi along with her. But his longer legs crossed the room faster than she could ever hope to evade him. "I just came to give my greetings."

"Out of the blue?" Yui questioned, the mistrust palpable in her eyes. Her gaze flitted over her shoulder quickly, looking Yachi up and down, who was now trembling from head to toe. It seemed the maid's safety weighed heavier in her mind than her own.

"I never had anything I wanted to talk about until now," he answered simply, the easy smile still on his face. Holding out a hand towards her, he suggested, "So, why don't we take a quick trip to my palace, Princess?"

She tensed, and hissed over her shoulder,  _"Yachi, go! Run–"_

A large hand clamped down over her mouth, effectively cutting off her speech, and she shrieked softly into his gloved palm as his arms encircled her waist and caged her into his chest. She was  _strong,_ and his breath almost left him when she struggled and elbowed him in the gut, but he was strong, too.

"Princess!" Yachi wailed, on the verge of tears. She yanked at her own hair, wildly looking about the room, not knowing what to do.

"Not to worry," Oikawa chirped, his smile widening. "Your princess and I are just going to chat for a bit, m'kay?"

She lunged for the alarm bell, alerting the guards of the intruder, but he, along with the princess, had already vanished into thin air.

.

He almost wanted to blast the door off when he returned home, just burn it to smithereens and stomp on the ashes, and then maybe curl up in his room for days, until the memory of Iwaizumi pushing him away numbed his mind and he couldn't remember it anymore. He barely managed to show constraint, but it slammed against the wall when he kicked it open and the  _bang_ echoed through the empty first hall like a gunshot.

_Almost_ empty front hall, he realized, because Kuroo stood by the staircase with a lazy smirk on his face, and he was the  _last_ person Oikawa wanted to see right now.

"What's the matter, King?" he drawled, and Oikawa resisted the urge to claw at his own hair. "Was your knight not as happy to see you as you thought he would be?"

The royal clicked his tongue, a harsh sound to match the hardening of his jaw, but did not give Kuroo the satisfaction of a reply. The sting of rejection was enough punishment right now for going after a man who was no longer his to take. And maybe that was what hurt the most – that Iwa-chan was  _no longer his,_ never had been even after everything they had been through together.

_I've wanted you for so long,_ he'd thought to himself, when the knight had denied him a second kiss.  _Why don't you want me back?_

Something about Kuroo's smile, so prominent and teasing, rubbed him the wrong way. Kuroo's smiles always felt a little off, but this one felt too personal, and for a heart-stopping moment Oikawa wondered whether the wizard had used his magic to look into his thoughts, into his memories, or even to watch the whole crushing ordeal take place.

But, no, that couldn't be right. The day he had come to his palace doors, asking to be taken in as the King's aide, he had sworn never to use his powers without his master's permission. That smile was only for show, to rile him up.

Resisting the urge to scowl, he scratched the back of his hair and snapped, "Where's the princess?"

Kuroo lazily pointed the way down the hall. "Dining room. She was getting bored in her room, so now she's having some tea at the table. Care to join her, King? I'll have a maid bring you some tea as well."

Oikawa paused, breath hitching, and wondered, could he stand to see the princess right now? When the warmth of Iwaizumi's mouth still lingered on his own? When he'd tasted Iwaizumi's lips for a brief, delicious second? Could he be so hard, so heartless?

"...Yes, I'll do that," he decided, already switching paths to head to the dining hall. He was the demon king, after all. "Send for the maid."

"Yes,  _sir,"_ Kuroo hummed, slouching off to do as he had been told, while his master tentatively glanced into the dining room.

The princess had taken a seat right in the middle of one side of the table, and that was strange. Royals traditionally sat at the ends, especially when dining alone, so he'd assumed she would have the habit ingrained into her after growing up with it. And choosing to sit where she had meant being cramped between two empty seats rather than allowing her all the elbow space she wanted.

Frowning, he slipped into the room and asked outright. "Why sit there, Princess?"

She startled at his sudden voice.

In fact, to say she startled was an understatement; she practically  _flew_ out of her seat, and a soft shriek bubbled past her lips. The steaming cup of tea she had been cautiously bringing to her mouth tipped when her hands jerked, and she accidentally swallowed a quarter of her warm drink in one, big gulp.

" _Ow – hot, hot, hot!"_ she wailed, tossing the cup onto its saucer and sticking out her tongue to wildly fan it with her hand. Her cheeks had flushed from the scorching hot liquid searing her throat, and even her eyes looked glassy from the pain.

Oikawa startled along with her, one hand sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Whoa. Sorry!" he laughed, but only because she didn't seem  _too_ upset even with how red her tongue had turned.

"It'dsh okhay," she assured him, mumbling around the awkward position of her jaw. After the stinging had lessened somewhat, she glanced at him self-consciously, possibly embarrassed by her noisy reaction, and asked, "Where have you been, Grand King?"

His heart jumped into his throat. "Out."

She made a face at the vague answer but chose not to push him for more, turning back to her tray of tea. "Biscuit?" she offered, holding out one for him and patting the seat next to her. He hesitated for only a moment, but then slid into the offered chair and accepted the cookie.

"Why sit here?" he asked again curiously, looking about at the empty dining table. "Why not at the front of the table?"

She scrunched up her nose, wiggling it for emphasis, and explained, "I've never liked sitting at the ends. When I do, all I see are empty chairs and it makes me feel... well, I don't like it." Curling out her bottom lip, she turned to him and asked, "Don't you agree?"

Oikawa thought about all those years of sitting alone at his giant, vacant table, wishing Iwa-chan was there with him, and found it difficult to swallow his biscuit. "I understand."

She blew puffs of air onto her tea, this time cautiously looking about the room first to make sure no more surprises would jump out at her, and then took a small sip. It clanged against the saucer when she placed it back, and then she turned towards him with an expectant look.

"Grand King," she asked, cocking her head to one side, "what's your name?" At the surprise on his face, she laughed, "It feels weird calling you Grand King, you know? I mean, I'm the princess of the kingdom, and you're the king of demons. What's the use of titles between royalty? Between  _anybody,_ really, but Father never lets any of the servants call me Yui. And I don't even know your real name."

He hesitated, knocked against the table a couple times with a single knuckle, but then decided there was no harm. "Oikawa," he told her, smiling his most charming smile.

"Oikawa..." she tried it out, a finger to her chin in thought, before a grin curled her lips. "Well,  _Oikawa,_  I'll be honest with you. When you brought me here and said you just wanted to have a chat... I didn't think you  _really_ just wanted to have a chat."

Oikawa smirked. It had been amusing, the look on her face when he'd brought her to his palace and then given her the most exquisite guest room in his home, as well as free range to roam the halls and permission to ask the servants for anything she might desire. She had probably expected to be locked up in some dingy, heinous dungeon and tortured for information.

"I know how to treat a fair maiden, you know," he replied smoothly, mimicking her posture of cheek against palm. "And a guest at that."

"Mmm... then what was the point of bringing me here at all?" she pondered, lips slanted into a light frown. "Couldn't we have just talked at the palace?"

No, they couldn't have, because then he couldn't have seen Iwa-chan and Iwa-chan wouldn't be traveling towards his palace right at this very moment. But he couldn't tell her that, so he simply chuckled, "I have my reasons, Prin – Ah.  _Yui."_ She beamed at the use of her name, and his intuition told him he was in the clear when it came to gaining her trust. "I can't tell you everything, but I needed you here. I hope you don't mind the stay for a couple of days? We'll take good care of you, of course."

She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms and sighing loudly. "Well, I don't really mind, honestly. I'm just worried that Father will raise up a huge fuss in the entire kingdom. Aren't you worried about knights storming your castle?"

Not so much  _worried_ as anticipating it. Or one knight specifically. "I have the situation under control," he assured her breezily.

She seemed appeased by his nonchalance, but then picked at the fabric of her dress and made a disgruntled face down at her clothing. "Couldn't you have kidnapped me while I was wearing better clothing, though? Now I'm stuck in  _this_ hideous thing."

Oikawa frowned, seeing his opening to bring the conversation where he wanted it to go, but it was at that exact moment that a maid walked in with a tray laden with his tea. She bowed before the two royals, hastily set down the platter, and then fled the room after a quick bow. Oikawa swirled sugar into his drink and wondered whether the moment had been shattered and it would be awkward to bring up the topic again. He watched Yui, who seemed perfectly at ease and was humming as she sipped her tea, and decided he was desperate enough to take the risk.

"I think you look very beautiful in your dress," he complimented her, his voice purposely silky.

She fumbled with the cup, almost spilling the tea on herself at the unexpected praise, and then turned towards him with flushed cheeks. "Oh,  _stop!" S_ he playfully shoved his arm, except the strength she used could have rivaled twenty men and he almost toppled out of his chair from the unexpected force, catching himself just in time. "I don't suit dresses  _at all,_ okay? But I had to pick out one for the stupid engagement ball next month."

He licked his lips once, the mention of the engagement instantly sobering him after the surprise of her punch, and his hold on his teacup handle was so tight it could have cracked the porcelain. His thumb brushed against the smooth handle in even strokes, and he wondered whether his smile was as forced-looking to her as it felt.

"Well, you know what they say," he hummed cheerily, his heartbeat in his ears. "Being in love makes a maiden more beautiful. Could that be it?"

A small squeak escaped her lips at his words, and the red on her cheeks slowly spread to the rest of her face. She touched herself, feeling how hot she was all of a sudden, and wailed, "Is it  _that_ obvious?"

His knuckles were almost white from how hard he gripped his cup, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. Despite how much he'd liked her just a minute ago, suddenly it was  _infuriating_ how adorable she was in this moment – a deeper scarlet across the bridge of her nose, her fists clutching at her skirts, and her eyes glistening from her embarrassment. This was the face of a girl in love with  _his_ Iwa-chan.

A voice in the back of his mind told him, no, this was the face of a girl in love with  _her_ Iwa-chan, and his vision almost clouded with red.

Barely keeping a grip on reality, just  _barely_ keeping himself from smashing his cup against the wall, he asked her, "So you're in love, Yui?" His voice sounded so muted, so far away.

Her hands abandoned her skirt and instead trailed up to her face, flattening across her colored cheeks and hiding her bashful expression. "Well," she spoke out around her fingers, her voice muffled, "there  _is_ this  _one_ person..."

"Oh?" His teeth had clenched so hard he wondered how he'd even managed to choke out that one syllable. He really must have been a masochist, because why else would he ask her the details to something he knew would only hurt him in the end? Physically wrenching his jaw apart, he hissed out, "So... what's he like?"

She peeked out between two of her fingers, meeting his eyes with difficulty. "I... haven't known him  _too_ long or anything. But, well, he's the dependable sort, you know? With lots of morals and a good character. Like the type you know you can trust right away. I think that's what I like about him  _most."_

He didn't think he could manage to speak this time, so he just jerked his head once. When he brought his teacup to his lips, it was only for show; there was no way he could have swallowed at this point, much like he could barely breathe.

"And he's sturdy," she carried on, no longer as embarrassed but still with a shrill voice. "I could lean on him. I could probably make him carry me from one end of the kingdom to the other. N-Not that I  _would._ But I like knowing I have the option if I wanted to, you know?"

Iwaizumi was the most skilled knight of the royal court. He was dependable, he had the highest of morals, he had the  _best_ character. He probably could have carried the princess across the kingdom  _and_  back again if she asked.

"And he's _tall..."_ she murmured shyly, but with a fondness to her voice. "And handsome. And  _so strong..."_

He'd thought all those things and more about Iwa-chan in his life.

She chewed on her bottom lip, then admitted, "I even kissed him once, and it was... well,  _wonderful."_

The world felt like it was fading away. His ears whistled, his Adam's apple bobbed, his fingers ached from his tight fist, and he felt as if he was losing his grip on reality. It was too real –  _too real._

Then Yui dropped her hands and pouted down at her lap, looking distraught. "But Father would  _never_  allow it..." she lamented, and reality slammed back into Oikawa like scorching tea had just burned his tongue.

He stared at her, unblinking, unmoving, the fog in his head clearing rather abruptly. The words made no sense whatsoever. "Wait." He rubbed his eyes, seeing stars as he did so. "Aren't you... engaged?"

She jumped as if the question had physically shocked her, and when she turned towards him, it was in a frenzy of flailing limbs and panicked eyes and vague hand gestures. Her hands dug into her hair, skewing her veil, but she paid it no mind as she blurted out, "Yes, I am!  _Oh,_ please don't tell anyone! Of  _course_ I'll get married for the good of the kingdom, but, but, but, I can't  _help_ loving someone else, you know? And I won't  _do_ anything about it – I-I mean, not after that first kiss. But that shouldn't count because I wasn't even engaged then!"

Oikawa held up a hand, trying to put a stop to her rambling, trying to collect his spinning thoughts. "Who...?" he managed to ask.

Yui hesitated, her breath hitching, and then mumbled, "He's this woodcutter... He came into the palace in the winter – you know, to deliver wood for the hearth. That's how we met, and..."

Oikawa watched sadness dull her eyes, watched longing pinch her lips, and realized he was not the only one unlucky in love, despite how much it felt that way sometimes. There were others who couldn't be with their loves also, no matter how badly they wished it. Princess Yui would marry a knight because of her father's expectations, and the knight would marry the princess for the good of his country. It was a heartbreaking union.

Oikawa thought of himself and Iwa-chan and Yui, trapped in this chain of unrequited love, and wondered whether they would ever get their happily ever afters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it's canon that oikawa is super sweet to girls (e.g. his fans), and i _love_ that, so grand king oikawa is the same way :) he might have kidnapped yui, but he would never put her in danger.
> 
> not happy with this chapter, though :/ it sounded really good in my head, but i think i wrote it at a bad time and it didn't come out exactly like i imagined.
> 
> next pov: iwaizumi again!
> 
> title: the team (time for our heroes to meet!)


	5. Iwaizumi: The Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screeches* [more amazing artwork](http://tanaka--saeko.tumblr.com/post/114016662683) for this fic by steph!!! _i am not worthy T.T_

Here he was, trekking through a dense, dark, dangerous forest, hacking thorns out of his face with his blade, surrounded by strange howls of unfamiliar creatures, and all he could think about was that  _damn kiss._

The softness of Oikawa's lips, the expert way with which he moved over his mouth, the feel of his tongue slowly dragging along his upper lip – they plagued his mind.

And with memories of that kiss came confusing thoughts. He'd liked the kiss, hadn't he? Even though he'd been kissing another man? Even though he'd been kissing  _Oikawa?_ If he wasn't engaged to another person, would he have stopped Oikawa from kissing him a second time?

The butterflies in his stomach told him no, as did the way his ears burned and his heart raced when he thought of what might have happened if he'd let Oikawa's tongue into his mouth. His imagination was all lips and tongue and saliva and heavy breathing and even wandering hands.

Needing to get the frustration out, he hacked with excessive force at a bush in his path, completely shredding it down to size. It didn't help the agitation at all, as he'd expected it wouldn't, and neither did reaching up to wipe sweat from his forehead and rubbing his fingers against Oikawa's bandana wrapped around his hair.

 _Fuck,_ he cussed in his mind, drawing his sword back again. Why did Oikawa have to be such a good kisser? Why did he have to have soft, warm lips? Why did he have to kiss him at all?  _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

Each curse was accompanied by a brutal swing of his blade. He showed absolutely no mercy to the forest around him as he cleared his path, but even so, it seemed like a never-ending trail of thorns and shrubs and dense trees. The night sky and the absolute silence only added to the eeriness of how alone he was, and it was hard imagining Oikawa growing up in a place like this when he'd always been annoyingly cheerful as a child. Now he understood why their clearing had always seemed to awe him.

It would probably be practical to set up camp soon and resume his journey in the morning. The frustration he needed to vent had fueled him to keep going, but his more practical side knew no real progress could be made in the dark; he might even have been walking in circles and not know it. At the next clearing, he decided, he would stop for the night.

Even while on the lookout for such a space, however, he  _heard_ the voices rather than saw the people first, and they gave him pause.

Why would  _anyone_ besides a knight on a quest step into the treacherous Aoba forest? he wondered with suspicion, slowly stepping closer and closer to the sounds he could hear from not too far away. Thankful for the cover of night, he hid behind multiple trees as he advanced, and it was not long before he spotted the smoke and the orange light of an unmistakable fire.

"It was just a  _question!"_ a scratchy voice rang out into the darkness, and Iwaizumi had to frown. It sounded like a child, but he could not imagine that anyone would have brought a kid into such a dangerous place.  _"God,_ Kageyama, you don't have to get so angry-eyebrows about it!"

"Stop asking, then!" another voice, much deeper, barked back. "And I do  _not_ have angry eyebrows."

There was laughter in response. "Yeah, you do! They get all scrunched up and almost join together, like a caterpillar on your forehead. Like  _this!"_

"Dumbass Hinata!" the second voice snarled, ticked off at what was presumably a demonstration of his angry-eyebrows. "I don't look like that. Stop it!"

"Make me, stupid Kageyama," the first voice taunted, and the words were strangely garbled, like the owner had stuck out their tongue and was speaking around it. The loud, taunting laughter abruptly came to a halt, however, when the boy suddenly yelped in alarm.  _"Oi!_ Don't point your arrows at me! Learn to take a joke, dummy."

"Learn to stop when I tell you to,  _dumbass."_

"Wow, wow, wow! What are you doing? Don't  _string_ it. What, are you actually going to shoot me? Aone won't let you, you know. He'll – wait, wait,  _don't_ –  _ahh!"_

There was a sharp  _zing_ sound as an arrow cleanly sliced through the air, and Iwaizumi finally spied flaming, orange hair as the boy threw himself on the ground, just barely avoiding the arrow as it passed over his head. It shot out of the clearing, past the grove of trees – and was now heading straight for Iwaizumi.

"Wow!" he barked, and it was only in the nick of time that he managed to duck. There was a  _thwack_ as the arrow impaled itself into a tree behind him.

" _Oh. My. God,"_ the first, orange-haired boy wailed. "You  _actually_ shot an arrow at me! An  _arrow._ What the hell, Kageyama!"

"I warned you," his companion replied coolly, putting away his bow like he hadn't just tried to shoot his own friend.

"I could have been killed–"

His indignant screech was suddenly overshadowed by a low grunt, as a third voice was thrown into the mix. Their party lulled into silence, broken only when the boy whispered in confusion, "What is it, Aone?"

"Someone..." the third, gravely voice rumbled, sounding thoughtful and on alert, and Iwaizumi realized he had been discovered. The two boys arguing might not have heard his cry of alarm over their own shouting, but it seemed their third companion had been listening to his surroundings to make up for their distraction.

Realizing he probably had no way to sneak off without being noticed – not with the three listening closely and while wearing his clunky armor – he rubbed his head over the bandana and slowly stepped out into the clearing.

The orange-haired boy, who even  _looked_  like a child to match his voice, squeaked in surprise. The black-haired archer who had fired the arrow immediately reached for his bow, mistrust in his eyes. And the third man pushed off the log he had been seated on, drawing himself up to his full, threatening height while the first boy trembled behind him.

"Who's that?" the boy hissed loudly.

"How am  _I_ supposed to know, dumbass?" the archer snapped back, scowling his way, and the two boys stuck out their tongues at one another.

Iwaizumi sighed, sheathing his blade so they would know he did not mean them harm, and held up his hands. "I'm not here to hurt you," he assured them slowly, nodding towards the stone-faced giant who had yet to relax his tense posture. "I was just passing through. I'm a knight from the royal court. See?"

Keeping his hands where they could see them, he jutted out his hip, and their eyes simultaneously dropped to the sheath attached to his side. The royal insignia engraved into the metal was proof enough that he spoke the truth, and while the giant still did not relax and the archer was still frowning, the orange-haired boy whooped in delight and immediately rushed up to him.

"Wow, a  _real knight!"_ he exclaimed, looking up at Iwaizumi in awe. The light of the fire caused his eyes to sparkle that much more brightly, and Iwaizumi had to fight a strange and sudden urge to affectionately ruffle his hair. "If you're a knight from the palace and you're in this forest, does that mean you're looking for the princess?" the boy asked.

He raised an eyebrow, more stunned than he let show on his face. "How did you know that?"

The boy puffed out his chest, which wasn't very big or impressive at all, and declared, "Because  _we're_ looking for her, too. I'm Hinata Shouyou. A hero." He said the title with great care and affection, like it defined him even more than his name did.

"...Iwaizumi Hajime," he introduced himself in return, but really, he was beyond shocked. Who in their right mind allowed such a young boy to become a swordsman, venture into this forbidden forest, and attempt to battle against the king of all demons?

"These are my traveling companions." Hinata eagerly gestured towards his party and made the introductions. "That's Aone Takanobu. He doesn't say much, but that's all right because Kenma always says I need to learn that sometimes silence is okay. And that's dumbass Kageyama."

" _Hey,"_ the archer snapped, angrily plopping down on his log. "Introduce me  _properly,_ moron. It's Kageyama Tobio."

Hinata just shrugged, like he couldn't be bothered to fix his mistake, and grinned up at Iwaizumi once again. "Do you want to join our party, good sir?" he offered, beaming. "I've always wanted to be friends with a knight!"

Iwaizumi looked at him and fidgeted uncomfortably, wanting to refuse; he liked working alone, and his morals were adamant about not condoning such a young boy doing such dangerous work. But his grin was so bright and full and open – almost like Oikawa's when he'd been a child, he observed with a lump in his throat – that it seemed criminal to refuse and sour his mood in any way. Neither Aone nor Kageyama seemed suspicious of him any longer either. They had taken their seats once again, returning to idly watching the fire, as if they did not mind Hinata extending the invitation.

"Well... all right," he relented hesitantly, and Hinata's joyous jump made the decision even easier to accept.

"Come sit, here, next to me!" he requested, leading Iwaizumi back to his seat next to Aone and eagerly patting the space on his other side. "I wanna hear  _all_ about being a knight! Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Uh..." Awkwardly stroking his chin, Iwaizumi did his best to answer the boy's questions, keeping as many gruesome details about his road to knighthood out of the story as possible. Not that he ever  _had_ killed anyone; he only fought long enough to knock out the enemy or slashed them just enough that they were out of commission, but nothing more. Despite what his hardened face seemed to suggest, he was not someone who could live with a body count hanging over his head.

"Does the armor come with the job?" Hinata wanted to know, and Iwaizumi finally reached over and mussed up his hair. His steel headband tilted and almost slid down his forehead, and he sloppily yanked it back up into place.

"Yeah, it does," he chuckled, and that seemed to excite him even more than the tale of Iwaizumi's first ever quest. "The royal blacksmith forged it for my knighting ceremony."

" _Wooooow!"_ He almost flew out of his seat in his excitement, his cheeks flushed, and Iwaizumi decided that when they returned home, he would take the boy for a tour of the palace smithy and the weapon room. It would probably be like a dream come true.

The fire began to dwindle, but still Hinata never ran out of questions and Iwaizumi was more than willing to answer, so their group fell into their roles for the night, waiting for sleep to exhaust them before they would retire. He'd just started on the story of his last mission – a particularly memorable one about a boy named Akaashi who had thought burglars had broken onto his property, but it had turned out his home was actually haunted by an owl-like ghost boy – when Aone suddenly stiffened at their side again.

Hinata noticed first, as the most attuned in the group to the giant, and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Someone..." he grumbled again, and just as he said it, Iwaizumi heard it, too: light, even breathing. There was someone else in the forest with them, and close by.

He got to his feet, hand cautiously finding the hilt of his sword, and a trembling Hinata immediately jumped behind him as he shuffled towards the edge of the clearing, searching for the source of the noise.

"Is it an animal?" the boy whispered, practically melting into his armor.

Iwaizumi frowned, knitting his eyebrows together. "No... I don't... think so..."

Squinting into the pitch black, he scoured the trees for any movement or signs of life, and once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he spotted it – a single figure nestled against the trunk of a tree, hidden in the shadows due to dark clothing. It was a man innocently sleeping on the hard ground, legs crossed and arms folded, head leaning against the tree trunk.

"Who's that?" Hinata wondered with a shaky voice, peeking out from behind his torso.

"Let's find out."

Leaving Hinata at the very edge of the clearing, where he would be safe with both Aone and Kageyama as protection, he ventured out into the darkness alone, cautiously approaching the lone, suspicious figure. The man really did seem to be sleeping innocently; his breathing was soft and even, and he did not stir even as Iwaizumi stepped closer and closer. He contemplated whether waking a stranger he knew nothing about was the best source of action, but then decided that he would get no answers to his questions otherwise. Hand still on his hilt, he touched the man's shoulder.

"Hey, wake–"

Brown eyes suddenly snapped open, dark and steely and glaring at him with mistrust, and Iwaizumi realized with only a second to spare that he had whipped a hidden weapon out from under his cloak. In the same instant that he unsheathed his sword, an axe smashed against his blade with a deafening  _clang._

The force was so unexpectedly strong that his knees almost buckled, and Hinata cried frantically from somewhere behind him, "Sir Knight!"

"Stay back," he barked, tightening his hold on his sword for a better grip and pushing back with all his might. He met the stranger's eyes, their weapons locked, and despite their fierce struggle, he grunted, "I don't mean you harm."

"You attacked me in my sleep," the stranger replied, a stubborn tilt to his jaw. "Am I supposed to believe a stranger I found hovering over me in the Aoba forest?"

"Look at my blade," Iwaizumi insisted, putting more force into his stance because the man was surprisingly  _strong._ "I'm a knight. So, in fact, I have more reason to be here than you do."

The man glared at him suspiciously for a moment, and then his gaze quickly flitted down to the pointed edge of his sword, running his eyes over the metal. After a quick search, he finally spotted the royal insignia and his grip slightly relaxed.

"Are you...?"

"Looking for the princess? Yes." Iwaizumi stared him down, willing him to believe he spoke the truth through his eyes alone, and eventually his honest gaze seemed to win out. The man slowly lowered his axe before dropping his defensive stance completely, and Iwaizumi did the same out of courtesy. His instincts told him that this was a stranger he could trust, even despite their initial meeting.

"Your name?" he asked, sheathing his sword once again.

He carefully put away his own weapon, making sure it was out of view, then introduced himself to the knight. "Sawamura Daichi."

.

Being a woodcutter was just as exciting to Hinata as being a knight, apparently, because he followed pretty much the same routine with Daichi as he had with Iwaizumi; he eagerly led him to the seat beside his, and then launched into a tirade of questions. "How do you carry all the wood back from the forest? You can't carry it all by hand, can you?  _Ooooh,_ do you get to drag around a sled!"

Daichi didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he was much more open about the affectionate, fatherly feelings Hinata roused in him, and he chuckled and patted the boy's head as he patiently answered each and every question.

"Oi, Hinata," Kageyama barked when he was given a chance. "At least introduce yourself first, dummy."

Hinata made a horrid face at him, then turned back to Daichi and eagerly pointed a finger at himself. "I'm Hinata Shouyou. A hero. And that's Aone Takanobu, my childhood neighbor. And that's Kageyama Tobio, a poopy pants." Kageyama whipped a pebble at the back of his head, and he howled in pain.  _"Ow!"_

" _Dumbass,"_ was the archer's only huffy reply.

Iwaizumi and Daichi smirked across the fire at each other, amused by their antics, and then the knight realized he had yet to introduce himself also. There was just no chance for anyone to get a word in with Hinata dominating the conversation. Holding up a single hand in greeting, he said blandly, "Iwaizumi Hajime, by the way."

And something suddenly felt _off._

Hinata tugged on Daichi's sleeve and once again monopolized his attention, and their new companion grinned affectionately at the boy, so Iwaizumi wondered whether he had just imagined it – a trick of the light, when the flames from the fire threw shadows over his profile – but the smile on Daichi's face had instantly seemed to drop for a quick second, turning brittle at the ends at the mention of his name.

 _I've never met him before, though,_ he mused to himself, rummaging through his memories and coming up with nothing _. Must have been my imagination._

He waved it off. After all, his initial instinct had told him that Daichi was a man who could be trusted, and Iwaizumi was the kind of knight who placed great significance on first impressions and intuition. His had yet to fail him. It had even been right about Oikawa, about not running away at the first sight of his horns when they'd been only children, and that had worked out for him to be the best friendship he'd ever had.

Well, it didn't  _feel_ like the best right now, not with how confused he was over their entire relationship and that kiss and how hurt Oikawa had looked to be rejected. But still, he considered his friendship with Oikawa to be his most precious one, even if he would never say it out of the safety of his own mind.

He carefully peeled the bandana off his head before settling in for sleep that night, and as he stared at the cloth, he decided, kiss or no kiss, his relationship with the Grand King really was one he would never trade for anything.

.

After a night of restful sleep, Hinata didn't waste a moment pouncing on Daichi in the morning and demanding, "Join our team, Daichi-san!"

"Well..." He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure, and Iwaizumi wondered once again whether he had only imagined it when the woodcutter's eyes seemed to flicker towards him. "I don't know..."

"Oh, please,  _please?"_ Hinata insisted, hopping on the spot. "I wanna learn how to use an axe. Please teach me! Please come with us!"

"Oh... all right," he finally relented, much like Iwaizumi had when faced with the boy's bright smiles and gleeful cheers. And so Daichi joined their party from that moment on, and they continued to pack up their campsite.

Iwaizumi had nothing but his armor, his sword, and his bandana, all of which he had adorned, so he was ready to go. The only one to wait for was Kageyama, who had grumbled something about not wasting arrows before stalking out of the clearing in search of the one he had fired at Hinata last night.

He returned with it in his clutch, and the boy stuck his tongue out at him. "I hope that was the special one Kenma enchanted for you and now your plans are  _ruined,"_ he hissed at the archer.

Kageyama scoffed. "I'm not stupid enough to waste my special arrow like that. I'm not  _you._ And if I  _had_ used the enchanted arrow, you would certainly not be alive right now. Idiot," he added for good measure.

Daichi glanced at him with interest. "You have an enchanted arrow?"

The way he spoke to Daichi versus the way he spoke to Hinata was vastly different; he snapped to attention when spoken to, the scowl on his face smoothing out, and answered seriously. "Yes, I do."

"Just one?"

"One is all I need," he replied confidently, squaring his shoulders. "I always have perfect aim. But I can't take chances against the Grand King, so I had an arrow enchanted so that it will always find its mark once it has been shot."

Daichi looked mildly impressed, but Iwaizumi felt something heavy settle in his stomach as he learned of Kageyama's intentions. Suddenly he was overcome with a blind, almost  _unbearable_ urge to snap the archer's enchanted arrow in two. And he didn't know which one was the enchanted one, so he would willingly snap each and every one he had.

He just barely managed to restrain himself, not wanting to turn the entire party against him when they hadn't even begun their journey yet, but his eyes strayed towards Kageyama's holster more than once as they finished packing up.

"Shall we go!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed, snapping him out of his trance. "The princess awaits! The Grand King awaits!  _Adventure awaits!"_

"Calm down, dumbass," Kageyama grumbled, and Hinata aimed a kick at his head that he swiftly dodged. Aone had to physically separate their brawl before the party could advance any farther, but it was Daichi's stern glare that kept the two from acting up again.

Iwaizumi watched it all take place from the back, and he mused silently that they sure were a strange, mismatched group as they finally resumed their trek through the Aoba forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hinata is a precious sunshine boy and i melted my own heart writing him this chapter :')
> 
> next pov: hinata!
> 
> title: the forest (watch me condense their entire journey into one chapter lol)


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